Embodiments of the present specification relate to aseptic sampling, and more particularly to aseptic sampling at one or more instances in time.
Typically, in a cell culture process, growth media is used to nourish cells and carry away cell-secreted products. The growth media is provided continuously or intermittently to a culture vessel for in vitro culture of biological cells for: (1) recovery of cell-secreted proteins from the culture vessel, and/or (2) other purposes, such as expansion of cells. Further, the growth media is provided to the culture vessel via a flow path that is formed using suitable tubing. Often, this tubing is present as a closed system, where the closed system includes provisions for periodic or continuous replenishment of the growth media by introduction of fresh growth media.
It is often desirable to monitor the cell culture process. Further, monitoring of the growth media in the cell culture vessel and/or at one or more points in the flow path is an effective way of monitoring and/or controlling the cell culture process. Typically, monitoring of the cell culture process is performed by installing sensors in the culture vessel, as well as periodically drawing a portion of the growth media or a sample having a mix of cells and the culture media from the culture vessel for analysis. Thus, for example, analysis of the growth media before, during, and after passage through the culture vessel for monitoring one or more process conditions, such as nutrient components, cell-secreted proteins, cell-secreted metabolites, or the like may provide significant information regarding one or more of a number of viable cells in the culture vessel, a rate of nutrient consumption by the cells, a rate of product secretion, cell growth rates, stages of cell growth, presence or absence of subdivision of cells, and the like. Such information may be used to monitor the closed system and/or to indicate changes that may require alteration of the process conditions, the composition of the growth media, or the like to optimize the cell culture process.
Further, it is required for the cell culture process to be carried out under aseptic conditions as in the absence of the aseptic conditions the cells may be contaminated thereby resulting in contamination of products recovered therefrom and/or loss of cell viability. As a consequence, in vitro animal cell culture systems and their component parts are initiated and maintained under sterile conditions, with each portion or the entirety of the systems being sterilized prior to commencement of the process, and using sterile culture medium and uncontaminated seed cell stocks.
However, during sampling there is a need to ensure that sampling of the culture media or the sample is carried out in a manner to prevent introduction of contaminants into the pre-established sterile system. Conventional techniques for accomplishing this sterile withdrawal of the sample are elaborate, expensive, and time consuming. In addition, the conventional techniques for sterile withdrawal of the sample may compromise sterility of the culture vessel. By way of example, in some of the existing systems, the area from which the sample is to be drawn, be it the culture vessel or the flow path to or from the culture vessel, is provided with a sample port such as in the form of a short segment of tubing or other appropriate structures. The systems is then invaded via this sample port to withdraw a desirable quantity of the sample. Further, a portion of a biological inoculum, which is a mixture of the cells and the growth medium, is drawn from the culture vessel at different instances in time to monitor the cell culture process that is taking place in the culture vessel.
Each sampling instance requires drawing a portion of the sample from the culture vessel. Various tubes are attached to the ports or are passed through the ports of the culture vessel at different instances in time for different sampling instances. Any leakage or contamination in the tubing or in the connection between the culture vessel and the tubing may introduce contaminants in the culture vessel. Additionally, every sampling instance is accompanied by a user attaching some sort of tubing or device either directly or indirectly to the culture vessel, thereby increasing the risk of contamination of the inoculum. By way of example, a plastic sampling bag or a syringe may be attached to the tubing to collect the sample that is drawn from the culture vessel. In addition to the increased risk of introduction of the contaminants due to coupling of the sampling bags/syringes to the culture vessel, there is also a likelihood of a portion of the sample being left in the tubing after the sampling instance. This residual sample may then be inadvertently carried over to the next sampling instance, thereby jeopardizing the purity of the sample obtained in the next sampling instance. Further, each sampling instance increases the likelihood of contamination of the inoculum. Hence, it is desirable to ensure that sampling of the growth medium or culture fluid be carried out in a manner which avoids introduction of contaminants into the pre-established sterile system and provides a sample that is an accurate representative of the culture fluid.
In addition to the complex nature and risk of contamination associated with known sampling techniques, there also may exist an inherent limitation on the number or frequency of samplings which may be accommodated, either by reason of a limited number of sterilizable sequences to which a particular connector can be subjected to before severe degradation occurs or simply by reason of the inordinate amount of time needed to perform a sample withdrawal. These limitations may pose significant problems in situations where rapid and frequent sampling is required in order to monitor a potentially fast-changing situation. Still further, elaborate and/or time-consuming sampling techniques can add significantly to the overall cost of the culture process.